Absorbents are commonly used for recovery of oil or hydrocarbon based fluids. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,072 describes recovering oil spills on water or on floors using sorbent articles of resilient man-made fibers to absorb the oil. The sorbent articles are generally reusable after treatment to remove absorbed oil. Treatment of the articles enables recovery of oil for reuse and/or recycle and reuse of the sorbent articles.
The use of reusable absorbent articles is advantageous for recovering oils from spills in that significant cost reductions may be achieved as compared to the use of non-reusable articles. Also, reusable sorbents avoid incineration and/or land disposal problems associated with the use of non-reusable sorbents. However, previous apparatus and methods for removing absorbed oil from reusable absorbent devices desires improvement. For example, such apparatus are typically located remotely from the spill or recovery sites and thus the sorbent articles must be transported, sometimes over great distances. This is particularly true when sorbents are used to recover hydrocarbons from spills such as may occur on lakes or rivers. It is generally not cost effective to provide such apparatus at all possible recovery spill sites due to the cost of the apparatus. Furthermore, the expense, labor, time and inconvenience incurred in transporting the sorbent articles and absorbed oil to the location of the apparatus make reuse of sorbent devices less attractive.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system for recovering oil or hydrocarbon based fluids.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system of the character described which is suitable for removing oil-based fluids from absorbent articles.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system of the character described which is more convenient to use as compared to prior devices.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system of the character described which is more cost effective as compared to prior devices.